Joe Arpaio's Republican National Convention Role Doesn't Exist, So He'll Be at a Nearby Zoo

Sheriff Joe Arpaio will be in Tampa next week during the Republican National Convention.

He's not actually part of the convention, though -- he'll be giving a speech to an audience of people and exotic animals at a zoo about seven miles from the Tampa Bay Times Forum, where the actual GOP heavyweights will be speaking.

Yep, according to an announcement from the Arizona Republican Party, Arpaio will be addressing the zoo animals, zookeepers, shit-shovelers, and RNC delegates from the west at an "invitation-only" event at the Lowry Park Zoo on August 30.

"Sheriff Joe is a good friend and a great Republican, a former member of the Electoral College representing Arizona, and he's wildly popular not just in Maricopa County but throughout the state and the country," Arizona GOP chairman Tom Morrissey says in the announcement. "He's done a lot for the Republican Party already, and we're overjoyed that as always he is willing to join us as we visit some of our 'fellow elephants' while in Tampa."

Arpaio's so popular, in fact, that some real big-name people were given speaking slots over him at the actual convention. Some examples: Zoraida Fonalledas, National Committeewoman of the Puerto Rico Republican Party; Puerto Rico first lady Lucé Vela; actress Janine Turner; Delaware Lieutenant Governor candidate Sher Valenzuela; country singer Beau Davidson; and former "Massachusetts Secretary of Workforce" Jane Edmonds.